Automatic railway-signal



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H. J. SCHMITT.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SIGNAL.

No. 600,823 Patented'MaI 8,1898.

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H. J. SGHMITT. AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SIGNAL. No. 600,323. Patented Mar.8,1898.

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H. J. SOHMITT. AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SIGNAL.

No. 600,328. Patented Mar; 8,1898.

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UNTTED STATES HENRY J. SOI-IMITT,

PATENT OFFICE.

or DEWAR, IOWA.

AUTOMATIC RAI LWAY-SIG NAL.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 600,323, dated March 8,1898.

Application filed May 3, 1897. Serial No. 634,961. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY J. SCHMITT, of Dewar, in the county of BlackHawk and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Automatic Railway-Signals; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

This invention relates to automatic railway-signals; and the object ofthe same is to provide a signal which is operated by the wheels of thetrain to give warning of the approach of the same.

The invention consists in the novel features of construction hereinafterfully described and claimed, and illustrated by the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the invention, themechanism being illustrated in position to be tripped by an approachingtrain. Fig. 2 is a side elevation showing the mechanism after the samehas been tripped by the train. Fig. 3 is a top plan view, the casing forprotecting the tripping mechanism being removed and the casing forprotecting the signal being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 4 is a detailview illustrating the manner of sounding the alarm.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, 1 indicates the casing whichincloses the si nal mechanism, the same being situated adjacent thecrossing. J ournaled to the upper end of the casing and projectingtherethrough is a shaft 2, having the arms 3 fixed thereon on theoutside of the casing. Pivoted between these arms is the sign-board 4,upon each side of which is painted the word Danger. Surrounding the sideand top of the shaft and signal carrying arms is the pro tecting-casing5. The danger-signal is normally hidden from view within this casing, aswill appear from Fig. 1.

Secured to the shaft 2, upon the interior of the casing, is the slottedarm 6, within the slot of which is pivoted the downwardly-extending rod7, which is formed with a notch 8 adjacent its lower end. Secured to theside of the casing 1 is the latch-casing 9, having the guide 10 on itsouter side, through which the rod 7 extends and is adapted to move.Intermediately pivoted within this casing 9 is the bell-crank lever 11,having its lower end bent at right angles to form a latch 12, which isadapted to engage the notch 8 of the rod 7. A spring 13, secured at oneend within the casing 9, bears at its opposite end against the latch 12,and against the tension of this spring the latch is moved. Secured atone end to the opposite end of the bellcrank lever 11 are the rods 14and 15, which extend downward to the lower end of the main casing 1 andhave their opposite ends pivoted, respectively, to the oppositelyextending arms 16 and 17, which are secured to the shafts 18 and 19,journaled in the lower end of said casing.

J ournaled within the casing 1, intermediate the ends thereof, is theshaft 20, having the operating-lever 21 secured thereon intermediate itsends. To one end of this lever is secured one end of a spring 22, whichis coiled about the shaft 20 and has its opposite end secured to thecasin g. Pivoted to the opposite end of the lever 21 are thedownwardlyextending pull-rods 23, which are pivoted at their lower endsto the oppositely-extending arms 24 and 25, which are secured,respectively, to the shafts 18 and 19. Also loosely secured to the lever21, at the same end thereof as the rods 23, is the link 26, to the upperend of which is attached one end of a chain or cord 27. The opposite endof this chain or cord is attached to one end of an arm 28, which issecured at its opposite end upon the shaft 2 at the upper end of thecasing.

Fixed upon the shaft 20 is the disk 29, which is formed with a notch inits periphery. The upper periphery of this disk moves within the groove31 of an arm 32, which is secured at one end to a spring-rod 33. Thelower end of this rod is secured to the casing 1, while upon itsopposite end is the hammer 34, which is adapted to project through theperforation 35 in the front wall of the casing and engage a gong 36. Thecasing is grooved at 37, which groove receives the hammer-rod 33.Extending through the groove 31 of the arm 32 is a pin 38, which isengaged by the notched disk 29 when the same is rotated. For holding thearm 32, normally engaging the periphery of able vertically through theseguides is the rod 41. The upper end of this rod 41 is connected byalever 42 with an arm 43, which is secured at its inner end to the shaft2 at the upper end of the casing. Secured to the rod 41 adjacent itslower end is the pin 44, which projects through a slot 45, formed in theinner end of a sign-board 46, which is pivoted to the casing andprojects therefrom, the word Oars being painted on each side thereof.Secured to the casing adjacent the rod 41 is a bracket 47, andconnecting this bracket with the sidewall of the casing is a rod 48,about which is coiled a spring 49, which bears at one end upon a pin 50,projecting from the sliding rod .41. The opposite end of this spring isattached to the bracket. The tendency of this spring is to normally holdthe sliding rod 41 lowered within its guides, which, by reason of itsengagement with the sign-board bearing the word Cars, serves to normallyhold the latter raised within the casing.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the mechanism is in its normal position, thesign-boards being hidden from view.

For operating the above-described mechanism I provide the rods 51, whichare j ournaled transverse the track 52, two of said rods being situatedon opposite sides of the crossing and i at any desired distancetherefrom. The inner ends of each pair of rods are bentupward andinclined toward each other at 53, one of the rods being pivoted to oneend of the trippingplate 54. The other rod 51 works in a slot 55 at theopposite end of the tripping-plate, and

the car are prevented from striking a heavy blow.

Adjacent the opposite ends of the rods or cranks 51 are secured the arms56, to which are attached one end of the coiled springs 57, the oppositeends of said springs being attached to the base 58, to which the leversare pivoted. Depending from one of the cranks 51 is an arm 59, to whichis pivoted one end of the operating-lever 60. The opposite end of thislever is pivoted to an arm 61 upon the shaft 18. It will be understoodthat this tripping mechanism is duplicated 011 the opposite side of thecrossing, the operatingrod being pivoted to the arm 62, secured to theshaft 19. Suitable casings or boxes 63 protect the tripping mechanismfrom the elements.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The wheels of theapproaching train meet the inclined surface 64 at the forward end of thetripping-plate and depress said plate, which causes the operating-lever60 to be drawn upon, as will be understood. This movement of theoperating-lever causes the shaft 18 to rotate, said movement beingimparted to the intermediate shaft 20, causing the same also topartially rotate. This movement of the shaft 20 effects the upwardmovement of the sliding rod 41, which throws the sign-board bearing theword Cars outward and displays the same. Through the medium of theconnection between the shaft 20 and the upper shaft the latter isrotated, which swings the sign-board bearing the word Danger downwardand displays the same, at the same time moving the notched rod 7downward until its notch engages the latch 12. In this position themechanism is retained until the same is tripped by the train passingover the tripping-plate on the opposite side of the crossing. shaft 20causes the disk 29 to move forward the grooved arm 32, which drawsback-the hammer. By reason of the engagement of the notch of the diskwith'the pin of the arm said arm is raised and released from the diskafter it has been drawn forward, so that the hammer is released and thegong sounded,

thus warning persons approaching the crosslVhen the trip-. ping-plate onthe opposite side of the crossing that the train is near.

ing is depressed, the opposite operating-lever 60 is drawn upon, whichrotates the shaft 19, and by reason of its connection with thebell-crank lever 11 draws the latch out of engagement with the rod 7,which unlocks the mechanism and permits it to return to its normalposition.

It will be understood that the operatingrods 60 might be extendedseveral blocks, so that the signal would be operated by the train quitea little time before it approached the crossing. The device may beoperated by trains approachingin either direction, as will be readilyunderstood. by reason of this construction the wheels of 1 Having thusdescribed the invention, what is claimed as new issaid shaft, anoverhanging casing covering said signal in its normal position, a mechanism for operating the shaft to display the signal, levers connected withsaid operating mechanism and extending to opposite sides of thecrossing, cranks suitably journaled to which the opposite ends of theoperating-levers are pivoted, tripping-plates pivoted to the ends ofsaid cranks, said plates being adapted to beengaged and depressed by thewheels of the car, and means for returning the cranks to theirnormalposition, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of a casing,a shaft j ournaled in the upper endthereof and projecting from the same, a signal carried by the extendedend of said shaft, an intermediatelypivoted shaft, a connection betweenthe firstnamed shaft and the latter, shafts journaled to the lower endof the casing, operative connections between the intermediate shaft andthe last-named shafts, a rod connected to the upper shaft, a latchadapted to engage its lower end to hold the signal displayed,connections between the latch and the lower shafts, and a trippingmechanism situated on opposite sides of the crossing for displaying thesignal and disengaging the latch therefrom when the opposite side of thecrossing has been reached, so that the signal will be withdrawn fromView, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of a casing,a shaft journaled therein, a notched diskcarried by said shaft, a rod secured at one end within the easing andprovided with a hammer at its opposite end, a gong with which the hammeris adapted to engage, a grooved arm extending from the hammer-rod, a pinextending therethrough, with which the notched disk is adapted toengage, a spring for holding the hammer normally out of contact with thegong, shafts journaled in the lower end of the casing, connectionsbetween the operating-shaft and said shafts, a tripping mechanism foroperating the shafts to cause the hammer to engage the gong, and meansfor returning the mechanism to its normal position, substantially as setforth.

4. The combination with a casing, a shaft journaled at the upper endthereof, a signal carried by the shaft, a connection between the uppershaft and the latter, shafts journaled at the lower end of the casing,connections between the same and the intermediate shaft, a rod pivotedto the upper shaft and provided with a notch adjacent to its lower end,a latch pivoted to the casing and adapted to engage the notch of thesliding rod, connections between the latch and the shafts at the lowerend of the casing, and a tripping mechanism for operating the signal andreleasing the same as the train approaches and leaves the crossing,substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of a casing,ashaft journaled in the upper endthereof, a signal carried thereby, a sliding rod within the casing, aconnection between the rod and the upper shaft, a second signal pivotedto the casing and having its inner end engaged by the sliding rod, a rodpivoted to the upper shaft and having a notch ad jaccnt its lower end, alatch adapted to engage the notch of said rod, shafts journaled in thelower end of the casing, connections between the latch and the shafts,an intermediate shaft, connections between the same and the lowershafts, a connection between the intermediate shaft and the upper shaft,and a tripping mechanism adapted to operate the signal mechanism,substantially as set forth.

6. The combination with a casing, a shaft journaled in the upper endthereof and projecting therethrough, a signal carried by said shaft, anintermediate shaft, connections between the upper shaft and theintermediate shaft, shafts journaled in the lower end of the casin g,connections between the intermediate shaft and the lower shafts, asliding rod movable within the casing, a signal operated by said rod, aconnection between the rod and the upper shaft, a latch mechanism forholding the signals displayed, connections between the latch mechanismand the lower shaft, a rod secured at one end within the casing andhaving a hammer upon its opposite end, a gong which is adapted to beengaged by the hammer, an arm secured to the hammer-rod, a disk upon theintermediate shaft adapted to engage the arm, and a tripping mechanismfor operating the signal mechanism for displaying the signals andreleasing the same as the train approaches and leaves the crossing,substantially as set forth.

7. The combination of a casing, a shaft journaled in the upper endthereof and projecting therethrough, arms secured at one end to theshaft, a signal carried by the free end of the arms, an arm secured onthe shaft within the casing, a rod pivoted thereto and having a notchadjacentits lower end, a guide through which said rod is adapted toextend, an intermediately-pivoted lever having one end adapted to engagethe notch in the rod, a spring secured to the casing and bearing againstthe latch, shafts journaled in the lower end of the casing, connectionsbetween the latch-lever and the same, an intermediate shaft, an armintermediately secured thereto, a connection between the arm and theupper shaft, connections between the arm and the lower shafts, a rodmovable in guides upon the inner side of the casing, a pin carried bysaid rod, a signal having its end slotted to receive said pin, ahammer-rod secured at one end to the casing and provided with a hammerat its opposite end, a gong adapted to be engaged by the hammer, an armextending from the hammer-rod, a disk upon the intermediate shaftengaging the arm and operating the hammer, means for returning theintermediate shaft to its normal position, a connection between thesliding rod and the upper shaft, and a tripping mechanism for operatingthe signal mechanism, the parts operating substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

HENRY J. SCHMITT. \Vitnesses:

CHARLES W. CHOPENING, FRANK J. SCHMITT.

IIO

